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Bill C-230

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First Session, Forty-third Parliament,

68-69 Elizabeth II, 2019-2020

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-230
An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to redress environmental racism
FIRST READING, February 26, 2020

Ms. Zann
431061


SUMMARY

This enactment requires the Minister of the Environment, in consultation with representatives of provincial and municipal governments, of Indigenous communities and of other affected communities, to develop a national strategy to promote efforts across Canada to redress the harm caused by environmental racism. It also provides for reporting requirements in relation to the strategy.

Available on the House of Commons website at the following address:
www.ourcommons.ca


1st Session, 43rd Parliament,

68-69 Elizabeth II, 2019-2020

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-230

An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to redress environmental racism

Preamble

Whereas a disproportionate number of people who live in environmentally hazardous areas are members of an Indigenous or racialized community;

Whereas the establishing of environmentally hazardous sites, including landfills and polluting industries, in areas inhabited primarily by members of those communities could be considered a form of racial discrimination;

Whereas racial discrimination in respect of environmental policy-making, including the targeting of certain communities for the establishment of environmentally hazardous sites and the subsequent neglect of those communities in relation to the cleanup of those sites, would constitute environmental racism;

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to preventing environmental racism and to providing affected communities with the opportunity to participate in finding solutions to redress the harm caused by environmental racism;

And whereas the Government of Canada recognizes that collaboration and a coordinated national strategy are key to promoting effective change and achieving environmental justice;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act.

Interpretation

Definition of Minister

2 In this Act, Minister means the Minister of the Environment.

National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism

National strategy

3 (1) The Minister must develop a national strategy to promote efforts across Canada to redress the harm caused by environmental racism.

Consultation

(2) In developing the strategy, the Minister must consult with representatives of provincial and municipal governments, of Indigenous communities and of other affected communities, as well as with any other affected persons and bodies.

Content

(3) The strategy must include measures to

  • (a) examine the link between race, socio-economic status and environmental risk;

  • (b) collect information and statistics relating to the location of environmental hazards;

  • (c) collect information and statistics relating to negative health outcomes in communities that have been affected by environmental racism;

  • (d) assess the administration and enforcement of environmental laws in each province; and

  • (e) address environmental racism including in relation to

    • (i) possible amendments to federal laws, policies and programs,

    • (ii) the involvement of community groups in environmental policy-making,

    • (iii) compensation for individuals or communities,

    • (iv) ongoing funding for affected communities, and

    • (v) access of affected communities to clean air and water.

Reports to Parliament

Tabling of national strategy

4 (1) Within two years after the day on which this Act comes into force, the Minister must prepare a report setting out the national strategy and cause it to be tabled in each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after it is completed.

Publication

(2) The Minister must publish the report on the website of the Department of the Environment within 10 days after it has been tabled in both Houses of Parliament.

Report

5 Within five years after the report referred to in section 4 has been tabled in both Houses of Parliament, and every five years after that, the Minister must, in consultation with the parties referred to in subsection 3(2), prepare a report on the effectiveness of the national strategy that sets out the Minister’s conclusions and recommendations, and cause the report to be tabled in each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after it is completed.

Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons

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